The other day I received and reviewed the Altar Edition of the new Roman Missal (with the new corrected translation) published by the Catholic Truth Society in England. It is a wonderful book, and on reflection I think it is in many ways superior to the US editions.

“But Father! But Father!”, some of you are now saying. “That’s a great book if you are a priest at the altar. What about us out here in the pews? What about us?”

First, you can buy the Sunday Missal from Amazon UKHERE. There is also a DAILY Missal which I have not seen HERE. (“… £13.50 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery…”)

The binding is smooth, cloth bound. The book, once it has been open and loosens up a bit, lies open well.

The pages are not gilded. The Order of Mass is easy to find. Guess how.

You can see two ribbons.

The type is clean and clear.

Again, there is beautiful art work

Bonuses: Latin propers are included in side-by-side columns with the new, corrected English translation, which can make this also useful for study. Also, you can see part of the excerpt of a reflection by Pope Benedict XVI, included at the beginning of each Mass formulary.

Readings are from the Jerusalem Bible, except for the Psalm texts.

Very useful could be the classic “Preparation for Mass” section many old hand missals and all altar missals had.

There is a solid examination of conscience and structure or order for making a confession.

In the Order, there is musical notion. Gregorian for the Latin side and modern for the English side.

In the back of the book there are texts for devotions, such as Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and Stations. You find other standard Catholic prayers.

Nice book! It weighs 1.53 lbs (604 g). By comparison, the beautiful hand missal by Baronius Press for the Extraordinary Form is 1.65 lbs (638).

People who are interested in following the new Mass with the new translation, and also have the Latin for most of the orations, will find this useful. The curious or the studious can double-check the new text against the facing Latin.

That’s gorgeous. If none of the American editions pan out, I may just have to order this one. I particularly like that they include the Latin, if only some priest in my diocese would offer the Ordinary Form in Latin. The EF, we’ve got, but the OF? I’d have to drive 60 miles or so to Denver to hear it.

Fr. Z,
This question will only betray my great layman’s ignorance but could the matching UK (or any non-US-published (altar) edition be used legitimately for a public Mass by a U.S. priest in the U.S.? Both the priest’s and the people’s editions are stellar!

There is a moratorium in England and Wales on any new readings / lectionary for, I think it is, six years. I understand that one of the reasons for this is the CBEW were looking at the cost of production and purchase of ANOTHER new (peoples) missal / lectionary so soon after the new translation has been implemented.

Mine arrived yesterday too, and it is a lovely piece of work. Only one niggle: the chant for the Sanctus is missing a dot on the third and fifth notes, which would rather destroy the piece if sung like that!

But the rubrics seem better than the ones in the rushed CTS booklets about which His Hermeneuticalness and I both blogged a while back (eg making the sign of peace seem compulsory when it is in fact an option). That has been corrected, and we are no longer told that the reverent queue is the necessary sign of reverence before communion – another nonsense to which I objected (http://ccfather.blogspot.com/2011/07/rubrics-of-new-translation.html) …

The CTS to their credit not only listened to these complaints but also acted on them (though I haven’t yet had time to go through the Red with a fine-tooth comb)

A question aside: So far, I have seen editions of the newly translated Roman Missal for the United States, for England, Wales, Scotland and Australia. What about Ireland?
I would be interested in seeing the editions printed for Ireland and hearing about their quality.
If I understand correctly, the new translation met highest refusal (especially by priests) in Ireland.
That’s why I am wondering if Irish publishers have put the same effort in producing the new missals as for example the CTS.
On the other hand, I would not be suprised if noone cared for a beautiful and worthy edition of the new missal in Ireland…

Meanwhile, here in the UK, I pre-ordered a Collins version of the (ordinary people’s) Sunday Missal on Amazon (because it was the cheapest!) but the publication date was deferred twice until nearly Christmas. I cancelled that order and went for the CTS version instead, only to be told a few days ago that that’s been deferred as well! I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but many UK Catholics must have found it impossible to get hold of missals in time for tomorrow, and I wonder why.

Do not be in a conspiracy mode. I know from the CTS people themselves that the cost of the printings has not been available to the printing house, which does not run a profit. They have to wait for more contributions and sales to make further printings. They are running on a one shoestring budget and going glorious work for the money.

Daniel,

There is a separate Latin edition, which I have seen. It is one pound more than the other hand missal. The publishers decided to try out a partial Latin only after demand for it was clear. You can still order the Latin New Mass (NO) and it is very well done. In the New Year, the entire daily and Sunday will be available but not with the Latin on one side at this time. Anyone can phone the CTS and talk to them about it. They are very consumer oriented.

@Fr Marc: I don’t know about a Missal but the Catholic publishing house in Ireland is Veritas and was formerly the Catholic Truth Society of Ireland. Their edition of the Catechism back in the 1990s was late and underestimated demand by about several tens of thousands. The artwork in their edition of the Compendium was reproduced in black and white – most of the Catholics I know simply ordered English CTS copies instead which were properly produced. Veritas habitually underperforms and because they are part of the bishops apparatus, there are no consequences of any kind. Hilariously the TLM chaplaincy in Dublin announces each month an improving “book of the month” which is sourced through the National Bible Society Bookshop rather than Veritas; the ecumenical (but traditionally Protestant) Bible Society won’t stock Catholic books unless they are genuinely Catholic. They consider that unethical! Oh that Veritas would take the same stance, both for the books they produce and the ones they sell.

Fr. Z, thank you for the pictures. Some of the format reminds me of the Scepter Press Daily Roman Missal with the Latin and English, the engravings and the additional prayers.

Will D,
I am eagerly awaiting receipt of my missal from Scepter Press. I pre-ordered it in the bonded leather and it was supposed to be sent out 11/27, but due to delays, there were anticipating it would be sent out starting next week. The hard cover editions arrived a couple of weeks ago. It has the entire Mass including the introits, prayers, communion antiphons etc in Latin on one side of the page and English on the other. Plus it would have the feasts for the US.http://www.theologicalforum.org/default.asp?ci=25

Thomas G,
I used a missal all of the time when I first started attending Mass, since they did not cover the form and mass responses when I was in my Baptist Sunday school as a child.
I was given my first missal when I was in RCIA by a man who had converted and who gave everyone who entered the church a St. Joseph Missal. Primarily I used the missal to review the readings before mass and to follow along. Even after I knew the responses, I like having a missal to review the readings or follow along. Not all lectors are that gifted and it helps me focus on the readings. One of the downsides, to me, of having the entire mass in English is that, since it is my native language, I don’t have to concentrate and it is easy for me to go on “auto pilot”. This does not happen when I attend mass in Latin (OF or EF) because I have to concentrate actively participate.

Father Z: Does this CTS missal include the prefaces in both Latin and English? (The sample pages at the CTS site show sample Latin-English collects, antiphons, and the order of Mass, but do not show any prefaces.) If so, this would distinguish the CTS hand missal from the MTF (Scepter) hand missal, which I understand includes the prefaces only in English.

MissOH: One of the downsides, to me, of having the entire mass in English is that, since it is my native language, I don’t have to concentrate and it is easy for me to go on “auto pilot”.

This is true of me also, and I doubt there are many people of whom is not true. Unless making a conscious effort to concentrate, it’s too easy to drift into just passively watching the Mass, not unlike sitting on a couch at home and viewing an EWTN Mass without any active interior participation.

For this reason, although I follow liturgical Latin easily, I’ve always used a Latin-English missal at TLM, following it in English. And several years ago, it occurred to me that one way to cut through the English-only “smog” at a vernacular OF Mass is to carry a Latin-English OF hand missal and following the English Mass in Latin. Works for me, anyway.

That CTS Missal is awesome! However, Canada uses a translation of Scripture called New Revised Standard Version – NRSV for short in its Lectionary and possibly the Mass. (Catholic Edition?). This poses a problem for those laity who want hand missals. We have to constantly rely on disposable Living With Christ Series published by Novalis, of whom publishes more liberal theological material and has some controversy attached to it. There is no permanent hand missal for the Laity in Canada like this beautiful work.

Canadians (spefiically David in T.O. and APX, as you are the only two known Canadians on Here), or anyone with knowledge, where can a Canadian find a well produced missal here favourable to the New Translation in the NRSV?

Would it matter for most of the mass (save the lectionary readings) that the translation/language is the same for the liturgy of the Mass as USA and Britain that I can just use the L.W.C pew missals for the readings in the Liturgy of the Word, and go back to something like this CTS missal to follow along with the rest of the Mass (e.g. for the introit, collects, eucharistic prayers, etc.)?

MissOH, thank you for that link. I think I had seen the previous edition of that missal at the local Catholic bookstore, and I was very impressed with it. Like you, I find it easy to lose my concentration at Mass, so I try always to use a missal to keep me focused. I’m going to make do with Magnificat until I get a missal I like, since the parish continues to use the utterly useless Bustin’ Bread things from OCP.

ThomasG: Another reason for having an OF missal: I’ve had priests in Confession give me, as a penance, spending some time reading and reflecting on that Sunday’s Mass readings. Of course I try to do my penance in church immediately after Confessions, and there are generally missalettes handy in the pews. But in the event that one cannot take sufficient time immediately after Confession to do justice to that sort of penance, it is handy to have a missal at home with all the readings.

Thanks for your explanation, Supertradmum. We did start using the new translation, with little cards, at the beginning of September, which is when I ordered the Collins book. I wish I’d started with the CTS one now. The price of being a cheapskate I suppose…

Is the only difference in this hand missal that they use a different Bible translation? For individual use that hardly does anything.

Other than the fact that I would be following a different translation of the scripture passages, would this missal work in an American setting? I liked the artwork pictured, it was prettier than what I see in the ads for other missals…

Young Canadian RC Male : I’m Canadian! …but I don’t know of any permanent Canadian hand missals for the new translation.

Those disposable month-long pamphlet things from Novalis are garbage not only visually (and acoustically, because when people use them, they sound like someone is reading a magazine during Mass) but also theologically. Have you noticed the little blurbs from stray Canadians that Novalis puts in? I certainly would not give them a “nihil obstat” and I would be inclined to give quite a weird look to anyone I met who would.

Oh well. Between the Liturgy of the Hours and my Protestant upbringing, lousy reading is pretty much irrelevant to me knowing what the text of the readings (and the psalm) say.

How is the U.K. edition different than the edition for the U.S.? Is it just a matter of a few words that are spelled differently, or is it a completely different edition? I cannot see how they can be that different, considering the Missal (not Lectionary) is for the English-speaking world, not one for England, one for the United States, one for The Dominion of Canada, and one for Australia, etc. So, if possible, what are the differences? Thank you.

For those inquiring about an Irish Missal, does one side have English and one side have Gaelic on it? After all, they are both official Irish languages. I say use Latin or go with the Gaelic, no need to use a language that is foreign to your country.

Will Amazon UK ship to the United States? And if so, will the charge be converted to US dollars? I ask because some credit card companies charge an extra fee if you make a purchase in a foreign currency.

To Father Z: I know some priests and seminarians (myself included) who are disappointed that the US missals have removed all Latin (save for the Sanctus, Pater Noster, Agnus Dei). Do you think that this CTS People’s Missal would be suitable for a priest to use at a mixed English/Latin Mass?

If so I would like to give this to my pastor who does a weekly OF Latin Mass. That way the propers can still be said in English when the new translation comes into effect.

DTB, I would save on the postage and order the Scepter Press version directly from them or from several of the Catholic on-line vendors, some of whom are having small business Saturday or cyper (Friday-Saturday-Monday promotions). He hardback is already available and the bonded leather is supposed to be available soon.

The new Daily Roman Missal (according to the Roman Missal, Third Edition with the new English translation that goes into effect Advent 2011) includes prayers and readings to all Sunday and daily Masses in one volume. It also includes Masses for the Dead, and many Ritual, Votive and other Masses. It is a complete source for following the Mass, and reflecting on its profound beauty and grace. Available in hardbound—the Daily Roman Missal is an ideal size to carry, at just 4.75″ x 6.75,” it easily fits in a briefcase, backpack, or carry-on when traveling.

Special Features:
* Prayers, antiphons, and readings (A-B-C cycle for Sundays, two-year cycle for weekdays) for all Masses throughout the liturgical year.
* English and Latin texts side-by-side or the Order of Mass (including the four Eucharistic Prayers), the Entrance and Communion Antiphons, the response to the Responsorial Psalm, the Sequence, the Alleluia verse, and a number of devotions and prayers.

I would like to see an American edition of the CTS missal. Unfortunately, the Scepter editions only seem to have the Latin for the Order of Mass, and for the proper chants; I’d like to see Latin-English throughout.

Surely there is nothing preventing the publication of a Latin-English altar missal for the Ordinary Form?

RichR: The Pauline Press has revamped their Saint Paul Missal, formerly the (brace yourself) Vatican II Missal, and the sample on their website looks promising. Here’s the link.
I’ve used the old Sunday and Daily versions of the Vatican II Missal for ages, and apart from the awful artwork, I liked them very much — far better than I liked the St. Joseph’s Missal. The new versions appear to have much better art and a more traditional bent, but still no Latin, unfortunately.
For me, I expect my choice to boil down to either the Scepter or the Pauline versions.

MichaelJ: How is the U.K. edition different than the edition for the U.S.?

I’ve not actually seen either yet, so I can’t be certain. However, in general, I’d assume the differences between national editions would lie in the differences in their national calendars. For instance, a U.S. missal would include some American feasts (like Thanksgiving) that are not on the English calendar, whereas there are probably some English saints who are not on the U.S. calendar. But so far as the proper of seasons (Sundays and weekdays) and universal feasts in the proper of saints, I’d assume there would be no differences.

This looks excellent. I do wish we could get a similar American version. I am sick of using two books to pray over the Mass propers for homily prep (one for readings and English propers and another one for Latin propers). I am very disappointed that Scepter chose not to include the Latin texts. This is the reason why I have still not ordered a new hand missal. I don’t know if I prefer to have the CTS version and have to compare the scripture texts with my old hand missal or if I would prefer to have the new Scepter version and have to have another book to check the Latin propers.

I have the new hard-bound Scepter missal, having had the old one. I intend to get the leather bound CTS missal and also get the stitched leather-bound Scepter missal from the Midwest Theological Forum. The MTF offers the Scepter missal in hard-bound, bonded leather and stitched leather bindings… Each in graduating prices with the hard-bound version being the least expensive aand the stitched leather being the most expensive. Although the stitched leather version is just shy of $100, it is well worth it as this kind of purchase is generally the kind of expense that is very infrequent, with the leather volume falling open in ones hand and feeling very natural. The leather-bound versions also have gold-gilded page edges, enhancing the beauty of the missal.

The artwork in the Scepter missal is basically the same as the previous missal from what I’ve seen, althouh I’ve not looked at everything as of yet. If you were to get this missal, you would be happy indeed with it. I too would like more Latin, different artwork and a more formal wording of the other prayers that are not a part of the Mass. I will therefore get a CTS missal. I think that the leather-bound version in the slipcase also has gilded edges, which is a big plus.

A personal wish… I would like it if the scripture readings used at Masses in the United States were taken from the New Revised Standard Bible rather than the New American Bible.

In the comments on Fr. Z’s post on 23rd November relating to the Altar version of the CTS Missal, Br. Tom Forde OFM Cap. confirmed what I had suspected viz. that this version is everything one expects from the Irish liturgical establishment:

I will be very interested in getting a copy of the CTS daily missal (even if it probably won’t have most of the Irish saints’ propers in it, but no matter). However, while certainly beautiful, it is going to be pretty sizeable, according to their website: 5″ width x 6.75″ length, if I’ve converted it properly! As someone said, like a small Bible, really.

James Joseph:
I believe it is the same as the MTF edition. Also, note that I am say that they lack the three orations in Latin (collect, super oblata, and post-communion), they do have the order of Mass in Latin and the entrance and communion antiphons…I don’t remember about the prefaces.

John Nolan:
I believe that they decided, problematically, not to simply translate the antiphons into English but to employ modern translations. This creates problems on days where Holy Mother Church WANTS to put specific ideas before our minds which the modern rendering removes. As Xaviar Rindfleisch pointed out on another blog, an example of this is on Tuesday of Holy Week when the new translation translates “ne tradideris me, Domine, in animas persequentium me” as “do not leave me…etc.” Clearly, Holy Mother Church, the day before Our Lord is betrayed wants to communicate “do not hand me over.” Irritating; but on most days this probably (hopefully) won’t be a major issue.

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